Coaching Global Executives for Better Thinking Patterns

In our view, coaching is all about "surfacing the wisdom" in our clients, and to some extent this is a function of three things:
• recognizing and working with their naturally dominant thinking styles,
• accessing and raising awareness of their mental habits (automatic reactions and stories through which they interpret incoming information) which predispose them to certain behaviors, and
• working with them so that they design and practice new "brain maps" that result in more useful and innovative behavior leading to a positive impact and success

Naturally Dominant Thinking Styles

Each of us has one! Most successful Global Executives appear to have what Katherine Benziger(1) calls a "Frontal Right" thinking style (big picture, visual thinkers, problems solvers who make intuitive leaps and enjoy innovation) with a highly developed Frontal Left (systems overview thinkers who are good at logical steps and design of processes) and Basal Right (good at teamwork, sensing the spiritual and emotional dimensions). Each of these styles involves different approaches, so a coach working with them requires knowledge of how best they can approach organization, team leadership, working across cultures and other aspects of global organizational leadership. Knowing how to help them use the modes together and to nurture their dominant mode can make them very successful and also preserve their health. Using your non-dominant mode takes up 100 times the natural resources that using your dominant mode takes.

Identifying Mental Habits

By careful listening and bare observation when we speak with our clients, we can tell what kind of "stories" they commonly tell themselves. Most of us hold these interpretations of reality as "truths" but in fact they are only our internal representations of incoming information. Some extreme differences can result. For example, one person may see a combined-culture leader as a symbol of hope, representing different rich cultures bringing various new strengths to the table, while others may see the same person as threatening of their own known culture and values. As a result, one person experiences hope and optimism, the other fear. These emotions may translate into a judgement of either the external person or oneself, and this can lead to either an expansion of energy (as in optimism) leading to outgoing behavior or a contraction of energy resulting in isolating behavior and resentment or even rebellion.

The skilled coach knows that there is a choice and this is precisely what one of my clients said to me when I taught him a simple process of observing and intervening on his habitual thoughts:"Hannah, this is the first time I realized that I have a choice about what goes on in my brain! It's so liberating!" This is the seed of behavior change.

New Brain Maps

Whatever we practice, and we are all always practising something as we repeat our thinking patterns and behaviors, creates a pattern of neurons that fire together in our brains. The more these neurons fire together, the easier it is for them to keep doing it. So, when we learn to play a musical instrument or do a sport, our mental and physical practice builds and affects how good we become at it. Recent studies in neuroscience have shown us that, in order to keep this active, we must keep doing it, or something else that we are focussing on will take over the territory. (Interestingly this extends to losing sight or speech; the brain can use the neural "property space" for something else and this is always changing)

The same is true for developing new brain maps in our thinking. When I hear a client say "I can't do that." My response is always "You haven't done it YET!" and this is often enough for them to realize that yes, the story can change. When I ask them a question like "How can that be done differently?" they are not allowed to say "I have no idea," or "I don't know" (because this is practicing "not knowing" and "not bothering to think or listen to what they do know.") They are allowed to be silent, to say "I'll have to think about it, " or just ramble out loud until something interesting comes to mind. I often repeat "What else?" over and over until they have mined the gold in the deep recesses of their minds.

One of my clients, an extremely successful European automotive executive said of our coaching "Hannah made it possible for me to realize things that I didn't know I was thinking!" Now he knows he can do this for himself, and support others in doing it. At the beginning of our engagement he was a newly appointed Executive VP for all of Europe with a background as a plant manager; five months into our coaching relationship, he had been awarded a Global Leadership Award by his company! Not every client is as willing to grow as he was, but in my experience, knowing how to approach the growth process in this way makes it much more likely that they will do so in spite of the (possibly self-limiting) stories they have been telling themselves! I always remember the words of American poet Emily Dickenson about dwelling "in possibility." This is where innovation and scanning all approaches begins.

The latest research on the brain and aging, for example, shows us that, contrary to what was taught even to neuroscientists until the late 1990s, our brains are remarkably "plastic" and capable of learning new things all our lives. I'm fortunate (I think) that I come from a family of centenarians (well, some "die young" in their 90s...) and what stands out when I think of someone like my grandfather, Joseph Arlinda Durham (an innovative Quaker farmer who pass away at 105), is humor, good sense, and an interest in new things. His motto was "never hurry, never worry." He was too busy enjoying life and exploring new ideas and relationships. I remember my aunt telling me that when he received a marriage proposal in his early 100s, he replied not "I'm too old" but "Sorry, you are too young!" He valued his experience, his family, and his lifelong learning. But who knows? If he'd lived a little longer, he might have changed his mind.....

Hannah S Wilder, MA (Harvard),PhD (MIT), Master Certified Coach, Senior Global Executive Coach, Master Team Coach, Head of Faculty, Advantara Global

©Copyright April 3 2010 Hannah S Wilder. Permission to reprint enquires should be addressed to her by using the white Contact link on our website.

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(1) See Katherine Benziger Thriving in Mind, 2006

News from Advantara Global

At Advantara things have been happening so fast that it's been difficult to find the time to blog, but beginning now, we'll be making it a priority. We are grateful to our clients at Tower Automotive and other global corporations, and have enjoyed our work in Europe and India as well as those based in the UK travelling worldwide.

We have a brand new and beautiful website! Check it out at www.Advantara.com

You'll note that we describe our work as Leadership Learning and Coach Education. That's because we know how the brain works in the personal or organizational change process: ideas and concepts can be learned in a training (or in a book or online) and this kind of learning takes place in the neo-cortex of the brain which rapidly assimilates thoughts. However, sustained change and personal and professional development (changes in attitudes, emotions, behavioral habits) occurs in the limbic system; this part of the brain requires practice, repetition, and feedback, more like what is known as "Action Learning," in which you learn the idea, go out and practice, reflect on it, and come back to a coach to report and develop new approaches and fine tune what you've learned, building on it and integrating it.

We strongly believe that working with global executives requires highly developed people, not briefly trained coaches (two or three day coaching skills training, which only gives you the ideas and a little practice, soon forgotten in the press of everyday life) or even experienced executives without coach education. Our offerings develop the person, the professional, the leader so that they can lead well in a sustained, sustainable manner for a complex, rapidly changing world. They need "big picture" vision, proactive resilience(C) (see upcoming book on this), the ability to appreciate and integrate diversity of all types, and profound mindfulness in working with people (presence, emotional intelligence, the ability to take decisions and lead from wisdom). So, the Return on Investment is much higher (studies have repeatedly shown a fourfold increase in behavioral change when coaching is part of the approach). See below for my forthcoming book on related subjects! I've been a voice in the wilderness with regard to global and intercultural coaching with mindful awareness, combining this with ontological and evidence-based (research and practice) coaching. I'm now combing all I've learned over the decades into several books, one of which is on ProActive Resilience(C), very much needed in these times!


Several of our Global Executive Coaching graduates have been certified at the International Coach Federation (actually we have a 100% success rate for those mentored and educated by Hannah to date!): Beverley Robinson of Brussells, Belgium, and Margret Steixner of Uganda/Austria. Several more are in the application process.

Two of the coaches I've mentored, Doug Silsbee and Barbara Bouchet, have published new books, on Presence-Based Coaching (Doug) and Ignite the Leader in You: Inner work for Enlightened Power (Barbara)

More exciting news: I moved to the UK in 2006 and in October married a British citizen. I will be focussing on writing on Global Executive Coaching, Changing the Brain, and Proactive Resilience(c). Some of the material will be coming out in her blog and newsletters (The Global Executive and The Global Executive Coach), so watch these spaces! You can sign up for the newsletters at www.Advantara.com Look for the "Join our mailing list" forms.

We'll be back with more later. Look for us on LinkedIn and Ecademy as well.

And...have a pleasant Spring! We just welcomed it in at Padstow, Cornwall, one of the oldest traditions in May Day celebrations....Hannah and Andy have ties to Cornwall and a special place in their hearts for this celebration and community.

Walk in Beauty.....

How to Support HR/Personnel Management Colleagues

This material was compiled by Master Certified Global Executive Coach Hannah S Wilder based on a number of published studies, ten years’ experience in this field, conversations with Advantara(R) faculty and programme participants, colleagues in the Global Executive Coaching Special Interest group which she leads, and especially with colleague Sue Stevenson of Lifted Fog Coaching.

HR/Personnel Management Organizations like SHRM – Society for Human Resources Management (US), CIPD –Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (UK) and organizations in other geographics regions are beginning to address two main areas of related interest: Improving the Development of Global Leaders and Raising their Own Credibility and Influence within their Organizations. These two areas are mutually influential as organizations globalize and require more complex blended learning. Business executives who wish to save their companies large sums of money and increase return on investment would do well to pay attention here.

At Advantara® Institute for Global Executive Coaching and Coach Training and in the Global Executive Coaching Special Interest Group we’ve been looking at this question:

How can Global Executive coaches best work with Human Resource and Personnel Management professionals to strengthen their position and support them in developing the best global leadership programs within their organizations?


The Background situation:


We have known for a number of years that companies/organizations need to make a number of significant improvements in global executive assignments:
1. better understanding of what makes effective global leader (list of qualities and skills) in all kinds of global assignments: long term, leading global teams, short term development or rotational assignments
2. better alignment of global executives and HR/PM personnel with specific business strategy of their own organizations
3. better leadership development for global executives that includes 1 and 2 in format of blended learning including coaching by global executive coaches specifically trained and experienced in this area
4. better selection criteria for long term assignments including family readiness
5. better preparation and follow through coaching for:
a. rapid “adjustment” to hit the ground running in being effective executives
b. specific issues in carrying out responsibilities (intercultural communication, negotiation, team leadership and development, etc)
c. expanding and maintaining leadership development
d. maintaining and expanding own network in HQ while “away” on long term assignments of 1-3 years
e. preparation at outset for transition to home base (repatriation) or next assignment on long term assignments of 1-3 years

Significant Costs for organizations include:
noteworthy financial losses in assignment management (by organization) and execution (by executives) :
1. mistakes due to cultural misunderstandings
2. long adjustment periods due to insufficient preparation and support
3. low engagement by executives whose career development and management is not considered or supported sufficiently
4. failed assignments due to above plus marital/family strains/risks
5. failed repatriation and inept/under utilization of globally experienced executives leading to
experienced executives being headhunted by competition or other companies
How can organizations improve their return on investment, reducing costs by improving executive preparation and reducing attrition?

Costs for executives and their familes:
1. Career derailment
2. excessive family and marital stress
3. lost time and leadership development
4. missed opportunities within home organizations (although some experience in some organizations is mandatory to have access to those opportunities)

In spite of widespread studies and analyses of these issues for at least the last 7 years, there is still little significant advance or improvement. Some companies have been cited as doing better than others; however, it’s quite uneven and by no means an unqualified success in those companies.

Obstacles include lack of partnership or “seat at the executive table” by HR/PM personnel and lack of documentation of costs of assignments to organizations and executives :

Assignments are made by non HR/PM executives without collaborating with HR/Personnel management people who often are not part of executive team and may not be taken seriously as business people (big mistake if they are well selected and trained)
No one really has a good documentation or analysis of costs, although it’s known that these are high ticket executives so that any losses involving them are costly.

Executive coaches with specific training in this field can assist by
1. Educating ourselves and HR/PM personnel about:
- patterns
- specific core and peripheral/secondary assignment costs
- skills and qualities of effective global leadership
- how to optimize executive learning (move away from “penny wise and pound foolish” over emphasis on training which has ¼ effectiveness of blended learning

2. making complex proposals for blended learning
coaching/support HR/PM personnel in their own professional development and OD work to create structural relationships that are more like strategic internal business partnerships
coaching executives to make better use of HR/PM people and to hire people experienced in global areas and develop them in these areas

What is critical is for organizations to learn to discern among coaches who have a little international experience and those who are highly trained and experienced. Advantara(R) Institute was founded specifically becuase of a lack of understanding among coaches of these issues and a lack of knowledge by corporations as to what education and experience creates effective global executive coaching.

This material was compiled by Master Certified Global Executive Coach Hannah S Wilder based on a number of published studies, ten years’ experience in this field, conversations with colleagues in the Global Executive Coaching Special Interest group which she leads, and especially with colleague Sue Stevenson of Lifted Fog Coaching.

© Copyright Hannah S. Wilder, CEO Advantara® Global Institute for Executive Coaching and Coach Training. Further information and permission to quote or comments: contact me at my website contact link www.Advantara.com